"Call of Duty" to be made into a film - Paramount confirms blockbuster deal

Luca Fontana

3-9-2025

Translation: machine translated

After billion-dollar deals and major mergers, Paramount is now sending one of its strongest weapons into the field: "Call of Duty" is being made into a film for the first time. For the shooter series, this could be the start of its own cinematic universe.

What was long rumoured in Hollywood is now official: Paramount wants to bring the «Call of Duty» series to the big screen. Together with Activision, the employees of the world's most successful shooter franchise, the studio is working on a live-action blockbuster. The aim: to turn the virtual continuous-fire series into a cinema blockbuster that will appeal to fans and newcomers alike.

What's behind the deal

Paramount and Skydance have signed a deal with Activision to film «Call of Duty» for the first time. It has not yet been decided which chapter will be the first. There are plenty of possibilities: the iconic «Modern Warfare» battles with Captain Price, the conspiratorial «Black Ops» missions or historical scenarios like in «World at War», which sent players into the hell of the Second World War.

The numbers alone show why Hollywood has tasted blood: Over 500 million games sold since 2003, more than 30 billion dollars in sales by 2022 and number 1 in the US games charts for 16 years in a row. Hardly any other brand epitomises mainstream gaming as much as «Call of Duty».

Why now?

For Paramount, the deal is part of a larger strategy. After the merger with Skydance for 8 billion dollars last summer, the studio needs strong content to be at the forefront of the blockbuster business. In addition to «Call of Duty», Paramount has already poached the «Stranger Things» creators from Netflix and secured billion-dollar rights to UFC events - clear signals that they are going on the attack after the merger.

The deal also fits into the picture for Activision and its parent company Microsoft. Following the 68.7-billion-dollar merger with Microsoft Gaming 2023, «Call of Duty» is more in the spotlight than ever. Until now, the series has remained strictly on consoles and PCs, while other video game hits such as «Sonic», «Super Mario» or «Minecraft» have long since been released in cinemas. It seems almost overdue that the brand is finally making its way into cinemas.

What do the makers say?

Paramount CEO David Ellison enthuses: «As a lifelong 'Call of Duty' fan, this is a dream come true. We're as passionate about it as we were about 'Top Gun: Maverick'.» Rob Kostich, president of Activision, promises «visceral, breathtaking action» that should capture the cinema as intensely as the games themselves.

And now?

It remains to be seen whether this will be a one-off war film - or the start of an entire «Call of Duty» cinematic universe. Spin-offs that tell the stories of popular characters or scenarios in their own films or even series are conceivable. One thing is clear: Paramount and Activision want to bring out the big guns.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more